Bottle crate



A. TAURMAN Feb. 17, 1948.

BOTTLE CRATE Filed Aug. 23, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A TAU R IYIA N JNVENTOR.

BY/M-YDN EY`;

Feb. 17, 1948. A. TAQRMAN BOTTLE CRATE Filed Aug. 23, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TALI R MA N INVENTOR ATTE N EY Patented Feb. 17, l1,948

BOTTLE CRATE, Alphonso Taurman, BirminghamyAla... Applicaton Angnst 23 1945,. Serial No. 612,162..

This; inventifon,.y relates to a bottle ycrate,ofthe time. generally. employed. inr the. sale .and distri-V iit'ie'n' 0i..l carbonated. @Mitcham beverages.. andfha for an object; the,plOi/.sionQfjanarticlev of, th Y character des-ignatedWhihshaiibe simple. f. .teestruetioiif.easiiymamiiatiifea of'extitmeiyiieh't. werent.. andgyetj. whim shaiihave the'. rqii. te strerigilhto, ithstand rough handling thereby having a longv4 period of usefulness.A

A further objectbffn invention is toprovide; e.. feetaifheiti .Crate ein. tiring@ trip haring. bot:- tie-feeeiiiiee reiii-rirsw therein. withk downturried. @ai-igea theorenirigs. being Closely'. adjacent; t0 gether withV separators for the bottles'cornprised, Q1 Continuous,metaistraes bent. to forma piu-v raiity 0f; livbeiiiiswitiithe bbttemsei the U-bendsextending: diametrieaiiv artrose. the' Openings et, thefbQtt-miiofltheCreta1th?. upwardly extending sides, of, theenarators beineioined to 'the top between.. the.; iiaiiees. of. adjacent Openings; and. the bottoms. ofY tnellrbiiidsbeing joinedtothe bottoni oftheorate.

Astiil fiiitiiei. object. of. my invention is to provide a metal bottle .tirate hailing atop and 'bot-A t9 Joined,tesiiesandendsfby means. 0f ce# Op atinsiianges turnedjover to .tirol/.ide a con:

tnii'oiislbtad iitendiiigjarmindtii Crate' at the uppeiaridio.. .erecigesgtiiereei- Tiles?. aei-Dthiirfeetiires. .0f myinveiitien which. wiiibeeeme apearentfrom a Consideration f? tris; Seecifeatiein. are.. illustrated in: the accom-- nelrii'iri'gdrawiries formirifgapert bereut-in which.

"F.igf'; 1 .iatopriiari View Offtiie crate.; l Fia' is abottomplan. View:

Fie. iis a sectieiiiaijview taken alonethe line: WWOi E13-.1r i

Fig. 5y is. a; sectional jview taken aiongfthej line V-Vfiefh Eigsis .an enlarged. .detail 'Sectional viewshwf mtiiepmeaiis fer; joining the Sides. and1b0tt1es:

Fie-f 7iS;;a.i1;.-e.1evatieriai.viewfoffthe separators" reifiivdsfreiii;,theierateiiaiid' iiliisad .taiigsectieiiai View. Showing the; censtnictidn. o fj the Crate. at .theintersections fof) theseparatqrs Beferringmnow to the' drawings fora better un-` ders .dedite Oimr. invention.. niv. improved :Crate einbediesa tOP-i tiabottom ii,- .aridiriieeial Sides endende t2: Suitable openings Here-provided ijthe ends, with thefedgeslturnedover as shown iirF. e" 4 that.'therategmavbe. handledWith;- qlltiinj ryl-jtthe11ai`1 ds.y The top andbottom erweiterte.;thesiieetzfermineztiieSides-and'feiids s claims. (o1. 22o- 21) i5' and Honthe tergend 'bottom which are rolled or formed over outtrrrned anges I8` andj i8" on the sheet formingthe sides and ends to forrneontinuous beads Hand 2j at th'e'upper and lower i: edgeso'f theorate respectively., This construction" not 'onlvjoins ,the sheetshrrnly together, but provides a strong reinforcement for ther crate.; A wire or .rod1f22, i Inlay bey'provided. in each of the beads aroundwhichjthe vflangesiliay be rolledjto provide additional reinforcement;

The top; lil, as shQWninfFig. 1-is provided'wth'j a pluralityv oflongitndinally and transversely exi tending rowsjof openingsz; and 24 lfor theAV re-V cepton 'of bott1es`-. Inorder to providel great-v er strength for; the top, the openings are prefa erabiy made round,v asshown, but it-iseunder-V stood that my invention is notlirnitedj to atop having round openiljigs;rv sides ofV each'.` of the openingsare flanged inwardly to provide downturned'fiangesZjwhich cooperate to form narrowY 'recessesy 21A-where the adjacent;l flanges are closest. Tn'orderto` provide 'foreasierclean-i ing, and, also to rednceweight, the fiangesfmay be out away as. shown at'ZBjbetween the narrowjf recesses. l

In order. tol maintain the bottles separatein the'crate andtoaddjstrength and #reinforcement thereto, I provide separatorsv comprising continw ous metalistraps each-bentto provide a plurality ofv U-b'endsj spanning--the'bottle receiving openings; each ofthe Urbends'havingupwardly en. tending side portions 3l and '-32f and horizon-tallyy extending'bottomportions 33;Y The-upwardly exv tending side portions, intermediatetheend-s of! eachof thestraps, are doubled, as shown inFg. '1; and extend-upwardlyintothe-recesses?! between adjacent downturnedflanges 26; and are joinedto the top by spot welding or other means,` through the flanges. The horizontally extending bottom portions 33^-are-joinedvfbywelding, oriothermeans, tothe bottomV ofthe -crate il. At.. the ends, theV upwardly extending portions '-3-1- arejoined to the ends ofthe crate,` as` 'shownin-Fig; 4.; beingcut away belowfhtheopeningsorv hand holds 1 I3.

As mayv beseen from a,considerationl off Figs. 7 and 8, the separatorsformed as justidescribed: extendlongitudinally ofi the crate, diametrically.- across each of the openings-and alongeach row-J ofy openings, andl also .extend'transversely ofthea crate -diametrically across each of theopenngs.- At theintersections vof the-.horizontally extending, bottom portions33fof the-ubends, they` are bent.- upward-1yratl-the` intersecting-points, as shovvn.-` at 34 so that at this portionfofithebottom-eachfprm 3 jects above the plane of the upper surface of the intersecting U-bend. This is important in providing means for joining the separators to the bottom as hereinafter described. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the upwardly extending portions of the transverse U-bends are designated by the numerals 3|' and 32' and the portions 3l' are joined to the sides of the crate as shown in Fig. 5.

In order to provide a smooth inner surface upon which the bottles may rest and also to provide for easier cleaning, I'place a false bottom 36 in the crate having narrow openings 31 therein through which the upwardly extending portions of the longitudinal and transverse separators extend with a relatively close t. The false bottom 3` is turned downwardly at the ends and sides as shown at 39 in Fig. 6 to project under vthe bead 2|, thereby holding the false bottom firmly in place.

Between the false bottom 36 and the bottom Il of the crate, I interpose a sound deadening, moisture and water repellant packing sheet 4I. This sheet prevents water from entering beneath the false bottom and makes the crate extremely easy to clean. The sheet of material 4l is provided with openings at the intersections of the separators whereby the upwardly bent portions 34 of the transversely extending'U-bends are brought into contact with the false bottom 36. Accordingly, at this point, there is a metal to metal contact between the false bottom,`the intersecting U-bends of the separators and the bottom Il.

The false bottom, the intersecting separators, and the bottom may be joined together at the intersections by spot welding, or other means. A plurality of drainage or cleanout openings 42 are provided in the bottom of the crate.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have devised an improved bottle crate made `of metal with the top and bottom of the crate joined together by strong supports at diametrically opposed sides of veach of the openings. It will also be seen that by the improved method shown of joining the top and bottom to the sides and ends, I have provided a. reinforced construction which will withstand extremely rough handling.`

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications, without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A bottle crate comprising a sheet metal top having downwardly anged openings therein for theoreception of bottles, a metal bottom spaced from the top, and bottle separators comprising continuous metal straps each bent to provide a plurality of U-shapes, each U-shape forming a separator, said separators being secured to the top between adjacent downturned flanges and extending downwardly from ,the top and joined to the bottom.

A 2. A bottle crate comprising a metal top having downwardly flanged openings therein for the reception of bottles, a metal bottom spaced from the top, bottle separators comprising continuous metal straps each bent to provide a plurality of U shapes each U shape forming a separator with the vertically extending sides doubled and joined to the top between adjacent downturned anges, and with the bottomsof the U bends j4 ined tov the bottom of the crate. Y

3. A crate as defined in claim 2 in which there are provided intersecting separators extending longitudinally and transversely of the crate with the separators joined to each other and the lower separator joined to the bottom of the crate at their intersections.

4. A bottle crate comprising a metal top having downwardly flanged openings therein for the reception of bottles, a metal bottom spaced from the top, bottle separators `comprising continuous metal straps eachbent in aplurality of U shapes each U shape forming a separator with the ver- Atically extending sides doubled and joined to the vtop between adjacent downturned flanges, and a false metal bottom having openings therein through which the vertically extending sides of the separators project and means connecting the bottom bends of the separators to the bottom of the crate and to the false bottom.

5. A bottle crate comprising a metal top having downwardly flanged openings therein for the reception of bottles, a metal bottom spaced from the top. bottle separators comprising continuous metal straps each bent to provide a plurality of U-shapes, each U-shape forming a separator with the vertically extending sides doubled and joined to the top between adjacent downturned anges. a false metal bottomjhaving openings therein through which the vertically extending sides of the separators project means'connecting the bottom bends of the separators to the false bottom and the bottom of the crate, and a sound deadening moisture and-water repellant material in-` terposed between the bottom and the false bot'-l tom.

6. A bottle crate comprising a metal top having a plurality of rows of longitudinally and transversely extending openings therein to re-A ceive bottles, downturned anges surrounding the openings, bottle separators comprising continuous metal straps each bent to provide a plurality of U-bends extending longitudinally of the crate and diametrically across each of the' openings with the upwardly extending sides of the U-bends doubled and joinedto the top between adjacent downturned flanges,` each of said U-bends forming a separator, other continuous metal straps bent to provide apluralityrofubends extending transversely of 'the crate and diametrically across each of the openings and intersectingthe rst mentioned U-bends centrallyv of each opening, the upwardly extendingA sides `of said last mentioned U'bends being` doubled and joined to the top between the downturned flanges of adjacent openings,A and metal bottom, and means connecting said straps to each other and to the bottom at their intersections.

7. A bottle crate comprising a metal top having a plurality of rows of longitudinally andv transversely extending openings therein to receive bottles, downturned anges surrounding the openings, bottle separators comprising continuous metal straps each bent'to provide a plurality of U-bends extending longitudinally of the crate Joined to the top between the downturned nanges.

5 of adjacent openings, a metal bottom, a false bottom covering the bottoms of the U-bends and having openings therein through which the upwardly extending sides project, means connecting the bottom, the false bottom and the straps at the intersections of the latter, and a sound deadening, moisture and water repellant material interposed between the bottom and the false bottom.

8. A bottle crate comprising a metal top having downwardly anged openings therein for the reception of bottles, a metal bottom spaced from the top, bottle separators comprising metal straps secured to the top between adjacent downturned anges and extending downwardly and joined to the bottom, sides and ends for the crate, and ilanges on the sides and ends joined to similar flanges on the top and bottom by rolling the said anges together to form a bead at top and bottom, the said beads lying wholly between the planes dened by the surfaces of the top and bottom.

ALPHONSO TAURMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTSA Number Name Date Re. 13,038 Klenk et al. Nov. 9, 1909 135,232 Manning Jan. 28, 1873 641,757 Blaskower Jan. 23, 1900 1,148,017 Hamilton et al. July 27, 1915 1,945,805 Fitzgerald Feb. 6, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 447,699 Great Britain May 25, 1936 

